Sohu reports that Journey to the West 1986 is a classic Chinese film, re-broadcast over 3,000 times. Alongside this, the behind-the-scenes stories during the film’s production have also garnered significant interest. Filmmakers revealed that the first episode of Journey to the West was filmed in 1982 but had to be re-shot.
Director Dương Khiết shared that the Journey to the West project began in 1982, with the film crew starting test shoots with the episode Exorcising the Demon of O Ke Kingdom. The reason for this choice was that this episode did not feature many scenes requiring magic or special effects. The team aimed to clarify the direction of the content, the filming style, and the actors’ performances.
“Adapting Journey to the West is different from Water Margin, Dream of Red Mansions, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The three masterpieces only need to be done according to the original text. However, Journey to the West contains many concepts that are not suitable for screen adaptation, and there are many scenes requiring special effects,” said producer Dương Khiết.
Evidence of this is seen in the first filming, where the crew created a rather fierce-looking character design for Trư Bát Giới portrayed by Mã Đức Hoa. In the original story, Trư Bát Giới is described as a wild boar with the strength of a general, thus requiring a strong appearance. However, this design was criticized as being unattractive and fierce, unsuitable for a general audience, especially children watching the film.
Initially, the character design for Tôn Ngộ Không featured a light pink outfit, with a tiger-skin coat made by Đường Tăng. The gray fur was not groomed neatly. Therefore, director Dương Khiết commented, “Tôn Ngộ Không looks too dirty, too ugly.”
Following this, director Dương Khiết invited industry experts like Ngô Tổ Quang, Tạ Thiêm, Lý Vạn Xuân, Viên Thế Hải, and Trịnh Dung to evaluate the performances, movements, and designs. Among them, Lý Vạn Xuân was an expert in portraying Tôn Ngộ Không in theatrical performances.
“At that time, I just wished for a hole to crawl into because the designs for Trư Bát Giới and Tôn Ngộ Không were both too ugly,” said director Dương Khiết.
Ultimately, after numerous revisions, director Dương Khiết made adjustments to create the most perfect version of Journey to the West. The episode Exorcising the Demon of O Ke Kingdom also underwent many changes. Tôn Ngộ Không’s design was changed to a yellow outfit with an additional red coat, and the crown looked very luxurious. Trư Bát Giới became more visually appealing.
Additionally, the role of Đường Tăng was changed from Uông Việt to Trì Trọng Thụy, switching the costume from white to brown, and the hat was also altered. The queen of O Ke Kingdom, originally played by actress Trịnh Sở Kỳ, was changed to Hướng Mai. Several scenes were also cut.
Furthermore, because it was the first test filming, the episode Exorcising the Demon of O Ke Kingdom had many inconsistencies. The role of Đường Tăng was sometimes played by Trì Trọng Thụy and sometimes switched back to Uông Việt. The costumes of the prince and the eunuch in the same scene changed continuously because they were filmed at different times.
